Saqlain Mushtaq the Pakistani off spin bowler will be remembered in the history of cricket as one of the greatest off spinners of his time. A gifted bowler, Saqlain Mushtaq pioneered the mystery ball “doosra”.
He was born on 29th of December, 1976 in Lahore. Saqlain Mushtaq produced many variations in the spin bowling technique.
Saqlain Mushtaq began his career with a test and ODI career against Sri Lanka in 1995. He finished with 4 wickets in his first test series. Saqlain’s career best remains his performance against India in 1999 when he made a clean sweep and took 10 wickets in the Chennai test.
He was the quickest to reach the 100, 150, 200 and 250 wicket mark in ODIs. Saqlain also holds the distinction of being the only spin bowler to achieve a hat-trick in an ODI and one of the three bowlers to have taken two hat-tricks in ODIs; compatriot Wasim Akram and Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas being the other two.
The Wisden statistical analysis of 2003 declared Saqlain the greatest ODI spinner and the sixth greatest ODI bowler. He was the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2000. His last ODI was against South Africa on 7th of October, 2003. Saqlain Mushtaq holds the record for the most wickets in a calendar year in ODIs-69 wickets in 1997.
Saqlain had a successful association with the English County Surrey and Sussex. Saqlain Mushtaq till today is considered as one of the best in his field not only in Pakistan cricket but among other players too, coming from other cricket playing nations.
In 2016 for the home series against Pakistan, he was appointed as England’s spin consultant by the ECB. He remained with the team until the end of the third Test against India. He is the Pride of Pakistan Cricket team.
